E.J. Peiker, Nature
Photographer

Welcome to the quarterly
update from E.J. Peiker Nature Photography. In this quarterly email
publication, I will keep you all posted on upcoming workshops including the
DuckShop Series as well as sharing some photos and experiences with you. I
will also give you brief impressions on any new equipment that I get the
opportunity to use and any other general information in the world of digital
nature photography. Please feel free to forward this along to other
photographers and interested parties. If you would like to be added or
deleted to the mailing list or if you would like copies of past issues, just
send me an email message at
ejpeiker@cox.net.

Winter = Ducks

My favorite winter subjects are those colorful, funny,
and personality rich birds we call ducks. There are 99 species of
duck that still roam the planet. Unfortunately in the 20th
century alone, several species joined the ranks of the extinct - never
to be seen again. On the bright side, the ones that are left are
beautiful photographic subjects. I have loved ducks since I was a
small boy and now that I am a grown-up I chase them with camera gear
in tow. While ducks are generally larger birds, they can be very
challenging subjects since most ducks, especially the males, have
extreme contrast range, many species with deep blacks and snow whites
on the same bird. Exposing them properly can be very difficult and
the modern evaluative/matrix meters rarely get it right. More often
than not, these modern meters seriously overexpose duck photographs
leaving no detail in the lighter colored plumage. How do we insure
that are exposures are as good as they can be? I have developed some
general rules of thumb for duck photography in the mid latitudes (USA)
over the years that I have been photographing them. These are
starting points. Use of a digital camera and its histogram can be
highly beneficial to tweak these values for your situation. Film
shooters should bracket around these starting points

Keep the sun at your back - many ducks have iridescent
plumage which frontal light to record on film or on your digital
sensors.

On a sunny day in mid to dark colored water your meter
should typically be at -1 to -1 2/3 depending on the background. The
darker the background, the more negative compensation is required to
keep from overexposing the duck. In manual mode, ducks with bright
whites like Northern Pintail or Northern Shovelers are best exposed
using a Sunny f/22 starting point of approximately 1/1600 at f/8 at
ISO 200 (or equivalent). Birds that are not as bright white, try
1/1000 to 1250 at f/8. Many female ducks do not have the bright
plumage of their males companions. In these situations start with a
Sunny 16 equivalent exposure of 1/800 at f/8. About one stop more
exposure is required in the first two hours after sunrise.

On cloudy days or in open shade, Cloudy f/5.6 is a good
starting place for your exposures. Cloudy f/5.6 refers to a shutter
speed that is the reciprocal of the ISO you are shooting at. So if
you are shooting with ISO 200 film or a digital camera set at ISO 200
a good starting exposure is 1/200 at f/5.6. Supplement the light with
flash. A – 1 2/3 flash compensation will work in most situations.

If the bird is in water, do not allow your shutter
speed to fall below 1/160 sec. I have found this to be the bare
minimum that will insure sharpness in calm waters. This number needs
to be raised in choppy waters.

On sunny days, make sure the bird’s head is turned so
that the face is illuminated by the sun – the photo will likely be a
throw away if the bird’s face is not fully illuminated.

Stay constantly aware of reflections in the water
around the bird and fire the shutter only when no reflections of other
birds or unattractive land based objects are absent

Here are some baseline exposures that I use in the sun
for some common North American Ducks in breeding plumage (all in ISO 200
exposures):

Species

Male

Female

Mallard

1/1200 @ f/8

1/800 @ f/8

Northern Pintail

1/1600 @ f/8

1/800 @ f/8

Northern Shoveler

1/2000 @ f.8

1/1000 @ f/8

American Wigeon

1/1200 @ f/8

1/800 @ f/8

Ring-necked Duck

1/1200 @ f/8

1/800 @ f/8

Canvasback

1/1200 @ f/8

1/1000 @ f/8

Redhead

1/1000 @ f/8

1/800 @ f/8

Wood Duck

1/1200 @ f/8

1/1200 @ f/8

Ruddy Duck

1/1600 @ f/8

1/1000 @ f/8

Bufflehead

1/2000 @ f/8

1/1200 @ f/8

Gadwall

1/800 @ f/8

1/800 @ f/8

Cinnamon Teal

1/800 @ f/8

1/800 @ f/8

Green-winged Teal

1/1000 @ f/8

1/1000 @ f/8

Blue-winged Teal

1/1200 @ f/8

1/800 @ f/8

Lesser/Greater Scaup

1/1000 @ f/8

1/1000 @ f/8

Barrow’s/Common Goldeneye

1/1600 @ f/8

1/800 @ f/8

Remember that these are starting point on a sunny day and
will need to be adjusted based on the conditions. Studying the table
while looking at pictures of these ducks will allow you to see why I
have chosen the exposures that I have. In general, the more white or
the brighter the whites on the bird, the faster the shutter speed. This
is to retain detail in the whites. Also note that in most cases, a
sunny 16 equivalent exposure of 1/800 at f/8 (ISO 200) will work – only
the females with significant white require less exposure.

I have been experimenting recently with some techniques
for camera set-up that give a proper exposure in changing conditions or
in areas where the ducks swim between sunlight and shadow a lot. I have
found that on the Canon EOS 10D and the Nikon D2H, the following will
give the correct exposure 95% of the time:

Tv or shutter priority Mode

Shutter Speed 1/250 to 1/320

Evaluative/Matrix Meter set at -1 1/3 to - 1 2/3

Flash compensation set to – 1 1/3 to - 1 2/3

It isn’t clear to me why underexposing both the ambient
and the flash exposure like this creates a good exposure nearly every
time but it does seem to work well on male and female ducks. I chose
the shutter speed to insure freezing the subject but the technique works
equally well a 1/250. Note that on many cameras, high speed sync will
need to be enabled. Also note that depth-of-field will be at the mercy
of the camera since the camera will select the aperture. I plan on
experimenting more with this technique. If this technique works for you
or doesn’t work for you, please drop me a line at

The Bald Eagles have returned to Homer Alaska. It is
estimated that as many as 75% of the world’s published Bald Eagle photos
were taken on the Homer Spit – a thin peninsula that runs out into
Kachemak Bay. During winter dozens of Eagles flock everyday to the
Homer Spit to feed on fish which Jean, the Eagle Lady provides. This
February, Greg Downing and I will be taking a group of photographers to
Homer to witness and photograph this spectacle. The Homer Bald Eagle
Workshop begins on the morning of February 5 and ends at the end of the
day on February 9. Note that full frame Eagle photos can be taken with
lenses in the 200 to 300mm range! We have secured cabins in the town of
Homer and have room for two more. The cost of the workshop is only
$1350 including lodging. The latest issue on NatureScapes Online
Magazine has an article on the Eagles of Homer written by Tom Hill:
http://www.naturescapes.net/012004/th0104.htm